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THE GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT and the Hope Ofthe Advent Let to Come Adventism Began in Disappointment in 1844And It Has Struggled with Disap­ Pointing Delays Ever Since

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THE GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT and the Hope Ofthe Advent Let to Come Adventism Began in Disappointment in 1844And It Has Struggled with Disap­ Pointing Delays Ever Since THE GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT and the Hope ofthe Advent let To Come Adventism began in disappointment in 1844and it has struggled with disap­ pointing delays ever since. And now, 150 years later, how are we to keep hope alive in ouryoungpeople? ecently Dale Parnell, a professor at Oregon State University, told about traveling with his preschool son. Not long after they starred out, his son began asking those all-too-familiar questions, "Are we almost there? When will we get there? Are we there yet?" Finally, the father, with some exaspera- tion, told the child to be quiet. He would tell him when they were almost there. He would tell him when they were there. He didn't want to hear another question. The boy was silent for about two more hours. Finally, he could contain himself no longer, and with all innocence asked, "Daddy, how old will I be when we get there?" Sometimes it appears that to be an Adventist is to be like a child riding in the back seat of a car on a seemingly interminable trip. Adventism began in disappointment in 1844 and it has struggled with disappointing delays ever since. And now, 150 years later, how are we to keep hope alive in our young people? Or perhaps we should ask, why should we keep hope alive? Picture Any look at Adventist hope in 1994 must be different than it Removed would have been just a year and a halfago. In that time, we have seen Adventist hope not only plagued by disappoint­ ment and delay; we have also seen it go awry in devastation and destruction. For even though we correctly distance ourselves from the Branch Davidians by pointing out our differences and stressing how long ago their forebears broke offfrom us, we can't deny the fact that many ofthose who BY J 0 H N BRUNT OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 1994 5 died in the fires of neers to recognize that Waco had attended hope for the future Adventist churches and rested in God's grace schools. and on His action, not Even though we on human efforts want to cry "foul" when alone. Our first state­ Diane Sawyer says on ment ofbeliefs in 1872 PrimeTime Live that reflects this polemical Vernon Howell as a edge when it speaks of youngster joined the both the Second Com­ Seventh-day Adventist ing and the millen­ Church where he nium. Article 8 reads: learned to worship a we believe that the vengeful God who was doctrine of the world's coming to destroy, we conversion andtemporal might be surprised ifwe millennium is a fable of knew how many ofour these last days, calculated own students view God Picture to lull men into a state as vengeful when they Removed of carnal security, and think about escha­ cause them to be over­ tology. Can we keep taken by the great day of Adventist hope alive af­ the Lordas a thiefin the ter 150 years? Should night; that the Second we keep it alive? And Coming of Christ is to ifso, how do we do it? precede, not follow the I believe that we millennium; for until should keep Adventist the Lordappears, thepa­ hope alive, not just be­ pal power, with all its cause it is part of our abominations, is to con­ Adventist heritage, but tinue, the wheat andthe because it is integral to tares grow together, and the gospel of Jesus evil men and seducers Christ. However, cer­ wax worse and worse, as tain elements in Ad­ the Word of God de­ ventist eschatology clares. l have obscured this vital Coupled with this connection between polemicism was an el­ our hope and the good news ofgrace. We ement of William Miller's theology that will succeed in keeping Adventist hope became an important part ofearly Advent­ alive for our students only if our hope is \\Ie willsucceed in Ism. gospel-oriented and grows out ofour faith William Miller for a time believed in in Jesus Christ. keepingAdventist hope a deistic God, a clock-maker who set up the world and let it go on its own. Then A Historical Sketch he was converted to belief in a personal Before we move to the NewTestament alivefor our students God who promised salvation in Jesus to see the shape of this enduring hope, a Christ and a soon return. briefhistorical sketch may help us under­ only ifour hope is However, despite Miller's conversion, stand where we have come from and how he maintained a kind of deistic view of our past has influenced our hope. the second coming of Christ. For Miller, For our founding fathers and moth­ gospel-oriented and God had initiated a great prophetic count­ ers, Adventist eschatology had a strong po­ down. Through Scripture, He provided lemical edge to it. In their day, most of grows out ofourfaith the sure word of prophecy that enabled Christianity believed that every day in ev­ humans to calculate the exact dates ofthe ery way the world was getting better and momentous events to come. better. It was moving toward a millen­ inJesus Christ. For Miller, world history proceeded nium of peace on earth that would come precisely according to this plan. The gi­ through human effort. God led our pio- ant prophetic gears ground inevitably to- 6 ADVENTIST EDUCATION ward the final promise. The predictability • Two women in the church where I of the calculation would motivate people was born rebuked my parents for bring­ to repent as they faced the coming judg­ The greatprophetic ing a child into the world when Armaged­ ment. Miller saw this "sure word ofproph­ don (World War II) was already upon us. ecy" as the basis for the Advent hope. He countdown model that • Other Adventists in World War II confidently fitted events such as the French boldly predicted that Israel would not be­ Revolution and the history of Turkey into come an independent state. the prophetic framework. For him, even has been with us since • Certain Adventists during the Viet­ the Song of Solomon was a prophetic nam War proclaimed that the end was at book.2 Miller's time tends to hand because Laos, Cambodia, and Viet­ In 1845, William Miller wrote a let­ nam were the kings ofthe East and Arma­ ter to Advent believers encouraging them focus on events, rather geddon was upon us. to keep their faith. It was reprinted in the • Some Adventists during the 1970s August 19, 1851 Review. In it, Miller in­ gasoline shortage claimed that the national cluded this telling sentence as he described than the personal Sunday law had begun. his conviction that Jesus would come • Adventists today try to show how again: "This to us is a source of great joy promise ofChrist. the fall ofcommunism fits in with the very and it shows conclusively where our faith final events. is founded and our hope predicated. It is These illustrations indicate that we upon the sure word of prophecy and no have never been any better than anyone other evidence that we rely." Person, Not Events else at predicting tomorrow's headlines. Both this image of a great prophetic Hope that endures is founded on the per­ We don't know whether Yeltsin or countdown and the polemic tone of Ad­ son of Jesus Christ, not on impersonal pro­ Zhirnovsky or someone else will eventu­ vent hope are problematic today, however. phetic events. Notice how Paul, in Romans ally come out on top in Russia. History First, we no longer live in an age that opti­ 5: 1, 2, bases our hope for the future on God's will continue to surprise us, as it does ev­ mistically predicts an earthly millennium grace as revealed in Jesus Christ. "Therefore, eryone else, until the Lord comes. just around the corner. No longer do we since we are justified by faith, we have peace But that is all right, for according to need to break down false millennial opti­ with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, the New Testament, hope that endures is mism with predictions of doom and through whom we have obtained access to this not based on impersonal events or our gloom. Instead, we live in an age of de­ grace in which we stand; and we boast in our ability to predict them. Our hope is based spair and meaninglessness. Just listen to hope ofsharing in the glory ofGod" (Romans on salvation through Jesus Christ. He has the popular music that so many ofour stu­ 5: 1, 2 NRSV).3 This in no way detracts from promised to return for us. Because ofthe dents hear. Notice the themes ofviolence, the real promise ofa never-ending future with amazing grace revealed in His life, death, hopelessness, and despair. The world­ Christ. But the present experience with Christ and resurrection, we feel confident that He and our students-need hope. gives shape to the future hope and becomes will not let us down. IfAdventism is to Second, the great prophetic count­ its assurance. keep its hope alive, this hope must be built down model, which helped awaken our This is certainly not new to us, yet there on the foundation of God's grace. pioneers to the promise of Christ's com­ have been elements within Adventist escha­ ing, nevertheless obscures certain impor­ tology that have militated against this basic Assurance, Not Anxiety tant elements ofNew Testament hope. As New Testament conviction. The great pro­ A second feature of gospel-oriented we review this gospel-oriented hope and phetic countdown model that has been with hope is assurance.
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